Increasing Freeze-thaw Resistance of Concrete by Additions of Powdered Cellular Concrete and Clay Bricks

Abstract

The aim of our research project was to investigate the effect of different construction waste materials on the strength and durability of normal concrete. Construction waste materials were applied as supplementary material. 10% by mass (relative to the cement amount) of cellular concrete powder or powdered clay brick were used in the mixes, which were compared with a reference mix (without any supplementary material) and with a mix that contained air-entraining agent. The application of air-entraining agent in concrete is frequently recommended to increase the durability of concrete. Standard cubes with 100mm of edge length were casted, and after 28 days a compressive strength test was done on three cubes from every mix. The durability of the concrete was investigated with two different methods. First the cubes were subjected to 0, 50, 100 and 150 cycles of freezing then the weight and strength loss of the samples were measured. Besides that, the freeze-thaw scaling resistance of the specimen was investigated by applying 7, 14, 21 up to 56 cycles of freeze-thaw scaling. All the applied methods were carried out in compliance with the recommendation of the CEN/TS 12390- 9:2007 standard.